Updated May 26, 13:30 KST to include additional information on the constitutional change as it relates to narration in Kim Jong Un films.

North Korean television began erasing and covering up images of the flag and emblem of the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) in February, an NK News exclusive analysis has found.

Scenes in multiple programs about DPRK leader Kim Jong Un displaying the emblem were removed as part of the new deliberate campaign, and the emblem was even covered up in one segment airing daily on Korean Central Television (KCTV).

The appearance of a large billboard of the flag in Kim Il Sung Square, holding a permanent presence there among the National and Party flags, also appears to have been erased from music videos and other programs frequently aired on KCTV.

The Supreme Commander flag and emblem — composed of a Marshal’s Star and a half-wreath — has been a key representative symbol of the country’s leader Kim Jong Un.

But efforts to now remove it from the public eye may be related to constitutional changes made in 2019 that eliminated the term “Supreme Commander,” and the elevation in recent years of symbolism around Kim’s Chairmanship of the State Affairs Commission (SAC).

The symbol was prominently displayed at a January mass rally in Pyongyang | Image: KCTV

STATE OF REMOVAL

2020 kicked off with the emblem of the Supreme Commander still playing an officially-sanctioned role, showing up in a 2013-era propaganda poster displayed and paraded at a January mass rally in Pyongyang.

Scenes of civilians holding up the symbol as they marched down Kim Il Sung Square were subsequently used in various materials on KCTV, including a new 15-minute animated video on the new year’s propaganda slogans, typically airing once per day.

But NK News analysis has found that this video was altered between February 18 and 19 to both cover up the Supreme Commander symbol in a surviving shot of the poster as well as to selectively trim another clip just before the symbol would have appeared.

The video continues to be shown on KCTV and, as of its airing on May 21, still included a scene covering up the emblem.

Circled in orange is the same poster shown above, with the Supreme Commander symbol suddenly edited out between February 18-19 | Images: KCTV, edited by NK News

This short snippet from the segment shows both the propaganda poster edit as well as another instance a couple of scenes later where the poster is avoided by keeping the shot zoomed in the new version | Video: KCTV, edited by NK News

Other examples clearly demonstrating a new sensitivity over the symbol on North Korean television around the same time in February include the deletion of numerous scenes showing the symbol from various films focused on Kim Jong Un.

One such documentary, first aired last October and titled “Brilliant history of success demonstrated to the world through self-reliance (자력으로 승리떨쳐온 빛나는 력사),” originally showed a scene of Kim leading construction activities at Ryomyong Street and soldier-builders waving the flag atop a building.

This scene was still included when the documentary aired on February 15, but was removed the next time it was shown on KCTV a week later on February 22, according to the KCNA Watch KCTV Archive — the same time frame as the deletion in the propaganda slogans video.

Footage of the Supreme Commander symbol on a parade float at Kim Il Sung Square was also removed from the end of another Kim Jong Un documentary titled “In the Bosom of the Mother Party 3 (어머니당의 품 3)” between showings on KCTV on December 22 last year and February 24.

Other numerous instances of removing the Supreme Commander symbol were found between showings of the Kim Jong Un-focused “Great Comrade 1 (위대한 동지 1)” documentary on February 8 and April 24, and of the “Great Comrade 5 (위대한 동지 5)” documentary between February 5 and March 6 showings.

A side-by-side comparison of the “Great Comrade 5” documentary before and after removing the flag of the Supreme Commander | Video: KCTV, edited by NK News

There are also examples of the symbol and flag being removed from propaganda music videos that air on KCTV throughout each day, though these may be considered slightly less conclusive evidence of the change due to the fact that the accompanying clips are often switched out regardless.

But there are some examples which exhibit the same patterns as above, cropping the shot to avoid showing the symbol when a previous version showed it, for instance.

In a song titled “We love the Party flag (우리는 당기를 사랑하네),” a previous version uploaded to the state media outlet DPRK Today’s YouTube page in January displayed the symbol six times, while all such scenes were removed in a version aired on KCTV on February 17.

Played just prior to that song on the same day was a song titled “Advance of Socialism (전진하는 사회주의),” which also previously showed the symbol on a propaganda poster at the January mass rally but was newly clipped in the same way as the animated propaganda video detailed above.

It is thus likely KCTV began executing a decision to remove the symbol sometime in the middle of February, though in at least one instance, the permanent Supreme Commander flag displayed in Kim Il Sung Square snuck through the censors, appearing on April 15 in the Kim Il Sung documentary “Our Suryong.”

Other scenes deleted from the “Great Comrade 5” film | Images: KCTV, edited by NK News

LINGERING EXAMPLES

In the above example of the “Advance of Socialism” music video, the old version still showing the symbol was uploaded to the DPRK Today YouTube page just this past Wednesday, suggesting that the directive to remove the symbol has not yet reached all facets of North Korean media.

Old propaganda posters displaying the symbol also still existed as of May 22 on state outlet Naenara’s internet website, and photos of the January mass rally showing the symbol had not been taken down from the Korean Central News Agency’s (KCNA) international website either.

The status of these items on versions of these websites only accessible inside North Korea, on the other hand, is unclear.

But as the version of KCTV reviewed as part of this analysis is the same version aired domestically, it is likely the deliberate erasure of the Supreme Commander symbol has been or will be accompanied by complementary actions inside the country as well.

A large flag of the Supreme Commander is displayed in Pyongyang’s main central square. The image on the right shows the flag still present in an April 2-dated Google Earth image | Images: NK News, Google Earth

This could mean the removal of flags, propaganda posters, or other wall displays containing the symbol.

The large flag and symbol displayed at Kim Il Sung Square does not, however, appear to have been removed as of at least May 11, according to Maxar satellite imagery reviewed by NK News.

But as new demolition and renovation work directly under the billboard at the square began earlier this month, it is still possible that its removal or replacement could be forthcoming.

Another large display of the symbol exists just outside Pyongyang Station above the slogan “Follow the Marshal to the ends of heaven and earth,” and still appeared in that spot as of the early May Maxar image as well.

It was also shown still on display in April 12-dated footage taken by Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, again suggesting large-scale physical removal of the symbol from public spaces, if indeed planned, is not following the same timeline as KCTV.

Following the revision, Kim Jong Un was to be called the Commander-in-Chief (총사령관).

Martin Weiser, a researcher focusing on DPRK state media, told NK News the removal of the symbol, albeit belated, could thus be related to this change.

In some of the films which saw deletion of images of the emblem, however, narration calling Kim Jong Un the “Supreme Commander” in the old formulation of the term was not removed.

This suggests if the constitutional change is related, only the symbol — and not the term — has become a sensitive item deemed necessary to be erased from history.

Researcher at Seoul’s Kookmin University and columnist for NK News Fyodor Tertitskiy also pointed to precedent for the change in the apparent confusion over the Marshal’s Star and other insignia on the Supreme Commander’s flag under Kim Jong Il prior to 2002 when the current iteration first appeared.

Another similar but more minor change dating much further back, according to Tertitskiy, was the abolishment in 1952 of the insignia of the Minister of National Defense.

Kim’s newly-prominent emblem on the side of his personal jet in May 2018 | Image: KCNA

It has since appeared on Kim Jong Un’s airplane used to fly to a summit in Dalian with the Chinese President the following May, and was displayed prominently next to what appears to be Kim’s official portrait (yet to be displayed widely) at an event in June 2019 celebrating 3 years since ascending to the SAC Chairmanship.

It also gained status between Kim’s two special visits to the politically symbolic Mt. Paektu in the last quarter of 2019, which both featured the DPRK leader riding a white horse with decorative and revealing harnesses.

A comparison of Kim in his October (left) and December (right) Paektu visits, with National Emblems circled in red, the Generalissimo symbol in yellow, and the SAC Chairman emblem in orange | Images: KCNA, edited by NK News

In his first Paektu ride in October, his horse appeared to be wearing the harness used by his father Kim Jong Il (seen being used by the younger Kim in the past as well), displaying the symbol of the Generalissimo — slightly different than that of the Supreme Commander — and the DPRK National Emblem.

But for his next ride published in state media in early December, his horse was fitted with all new gold symbols on his harness and saddle, with the SAC Chairman emblem front and center and no Supreme Commander emblem.

Meanwhile, a missed opportunity to potentially see a change in the symbol’s status or use came when last year’s late-December multi-day Plenary Meeting prevented a national meeting from being held to celebrate the “8th anniversary of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s assumption of the supreme commandership of the armed forces.”

At this event the previous year, the Supreme Commander symbol was prominently displayed on the stage backdrop next to the event’s title.

Updated May 26, 13:30 KST to include additional information on the constitutional change as it relates to narration in Kim Jong Un films.

North Korean television began erasing and covering up images of the flag and emblem of the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in February, an NK News exclusive analysis has found.